130 



SCIENCE 



[N. 8. Vol. XLVII. No. 1206 



college that retains to the largest possible 

 degree an association with the funda- 

 mental sciences — those subjects tradition- 

 ally spoken of as the "humanities" — espe- 

 cially those relating to social and economic 

 conditions is not pursuing a wise policy? 

 Some of us are convinced that conditions 

 of expediency, based on popular demand, 

 have led the agricultural colleges too far 

 afield in what has been termed practical 

 training. 



At this point it may be asked, from 

 whence shall come specialists for teaching 

 and investigation in the fields of agronomj^ 

 agricultural biology, horticulture and ani- 

 mal husbandry if not from the agricultural 

 colleges, and would not the injection into 

 the curriculum of a larger proportion of 

 the so-called general culture studies crowd 

 out much that is essential to the technical 

 courses and defeat, in part, the objects for 

 which the colleges were created? 



This question suggests others. In prac- 

 tise are the graduates from the prevalent 

 agricultural courses found to be fitted to 

 teach or investigate ? Do they not soon dis- 

 cover, or at least, do we not discover for 

 them, that the higher ranges of service, 

 whether in the classroom, laboratory or in 

 the field, demand broader and deeper 

 vision than they possess, which must be 

 acquired through a subsequent severer and 

 more extensive training? Are we not in 

 many instances turning to the graduates 

 from the older universities for members of 

 college faculties and station staffs? Why 

 not then give to the student a broad edu- 

 cational foundation, with special attention 

 to some line of science applied to agricul- 

 ture and make him understand that to be 

 a capable teacher, investigator, publicist, 

 or even the most useful member of a rural 

 community, all this and more is required. 

 We should not be Satisfied to bring into 

 contact with our students or accept in our 



station staffs men and women who are mere 

 specialists and whose influence over the 

 student's mind and in the station com- 

 munity ceases with imparting or gaining a 

 knowledge of certain practical facts. Be- 

 cause the value to young men or women of 

 their college experience arises to a great 

 extent from their contact with teachers of 

 broad vision, large understanding and an 

 active sympathy 'v^^th life problems, we 

 should adequately prepare the teacher for 

 this high function and great responsibility. 

 But you ask, what about the j'oung men 

 and women who go from the college to the 

 farm and farm home? Considering the 

 kind of service now demanded in rural 

 communities, the need for leadership 

 guided by the ability to reason from funda- 

 mental facts and principles and by an 

 understanding of social and economic re- 

 lations, is far greater than the need for 

 mere expertness in fertilizing the land, 

 feeding animals or spraying fruit trees, 

 howsoever important these may be. For 

 this reason let us train at least some young 

 men and women to meet this need even if 

 they must learn through postgraduate ex- 

 perience certain practical facts to which an 

 ultra-practical course of study would give 

 attention. To-day the human problems are 

 the big problems. On its social and eco- 

 nomic environment the future of the farm 

 largely rests, and the average rural com- 

 munity sadly lacks leadership that is some- 

 thing more than vocational. In brief, then, 

 the agricultural colleges should not estab- 

 lish entrance requirements and curricula 

 chiefly with reference to turning out 

 practicians, but should give prominent con- 

 sideration to training men and women for 

 effective agricultural leadership. Such 

 men and women, inspired by a zeal for 

 service, are needed in our legislatures, even 

 in our national legislature ; they are needed 

 as publicists and in close and constant 



